Dominos Pizza

...

Domino's Pizza with sausage.
LOCATION: Boardman Poland Road. Boardman, Ohio
A long time ago I used to order Domino's pizza frequently. At least several times per month. The pizza tasted good, the service was alright, and the price, acceptable.

Fast forward to January 2018. The pizza was placed in a sturdy protective box. And well, that is all I have to say about that. The taste was below average, the price was high, the service slow. And we are talking about a pizza here.

Pizza Hut and Pappa Johns is kicking your ass.

It will be a long time before I order Domino's again.

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Chick-Fil-A Online Ordering

New Digital Age Chick-Fil-A Sandwich

I don't know about the rest of you but Chick-Fil-A is a fine fast food restaurant. The one I frequent was located in Boardman, Ohio, in front of the K-Mart on Route 224. It was so busy, cars wrapped around the building twice, yes, twice.

Finally, Chick-Fil-A moved across the street affording them more space and a modern facility. However, the restaurant drive through is still packed, even with the double lanes. Even though the employee's at chick-Fil-A are very speedy and efficient, it may take up to 15 minutes or longer to wind your way to the pay window. Even if you decide to park the car and walk in, the lines inside are long as well.

But there is another option. The CHICK-FIL-A app. I downloaded the app in seconds from the Android play store and it took several minutes to set up. Add your name and credit card info and in a moment you will be prompted to add funds to your digital chick-Fil-A card. I selected $25.00

The test of the system is during rush hour, and 5:30pm was the time I selected to try the new ordering process out. I opened the app and it offered me two locations to go, the Southern Park Mall or the new location on Tiffany. I selected Tiffany. The app showed categories of foof choices along with pictures of what you were purchasing as well as quantity. I selected a chicken sandwich and a large order of waffle fries.

The app prompted me to press the I'm Here button once I did arrive and to enter the store and go to the PICKUP AREA and the order would be brought over to you right away. Seems to good to be true. I was very skeptical.

Well, I pulled in, found a spot to park and walked in. As sson as i entered the door I hit the I'm here button on the app. The app responded by stating my order would be processed and the total of my order would be deducted from my digital card. Inside, there were at least 18-20 people in line waiting to order. The drive through line was worse. I spotted the pickup sign and sat down on the bench and waited for my order.

In less than a minute, yes, less than a minute, an employee walked toward me, smiled and said, "Patrick!" I replied, "Yes." She handed me the bag with my sandwich and large waffle fries and said thank you selecting Chick-Fil-A.

I was stunned. I walked out feeling sorry for all the people still in line but estactic how well the app worked.

The Grassy Knoll Institute Rates 5 out of 5 shots for Chick-Fil-A online ordering.

Addendum: I tried the app for lunch and it worked just as well and just as fast.

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Youngstown Ohio Zombie Crawl 2013

Last night a horde of Zombies gathered in Youngstown, Ohio at the B&O Station located at the bottom of the "Mr. Peanut" bridge. The Youngstown police department stormed the area in hopes to contain the horde. At first the police were able to contain the zombies but there were just to many of them. With police sirens blaring, the zombie horde broke the police lines and began slowly crawling up the bridge and descended upon the helpless city. This is the only known video of the walking dead horde. 

Happy Halloween

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Cheddars Restaurant - Chicken And Ribs

The first time I went to Cheddars Restaurant it was a pleasant experience. The food was good, the service great, and the place clean. The second time however, well....

BBQ Ribs And Chicken

Twenty minutes later my dinner arrived. It looked good. It smelled good. But....
In a nutshell, the chicken was under cooked, well, it was barely cooked. The breading was soggy and the inside chicken was cold and chewy. Not a good sign.

The ribs were supposed to be "Fall off the bone" tender. They were not. It was a challenge to get the meat off the bone.

The saving grace was the dessert, croissant rolls. They were tender, flaky, hot, and very good.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 2.5 out of 5 shots and recommends Cheddars for dinner just because of the previous experience.

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Steak N Shake - Double Cheeseburger

Double Cheeseburger

Is Steak N Shake a fast food joint or a restaurant?
From the outside it has the markings of a fast food setup with a drive through window. However, when walking inside, the decor is 50's style diner, black and white tiles, booths, and even a counter to eat at.

We sat down and a waitress took our order. Chalk one up for restaurant. I ordered a double cheeseburger and fries. It was brought to our table in less than ten minutes. (Another restaurant feature) The cheeseburger was excellent, in the top 10 list for sure. I watched them make the burgers on the grill before. They start with a fresh round ball of meat and using the spatula, smash into a thin patty. A few minutes of sizzling and the patty is flipped. Cheese is added and then placed on the bun.

The fries were thin cut, (We will call them Mini Fries) and were tasty especially with the dipping cheese sauce.

The cost was very cheap, (A fast food feature) $4.00 with fries. We paid and left a higher than usual tip for our waitress and walked out the door.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4.75 out of 5 shots and recommends steak N Shake for dinner.

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One Hell Of A Happy Meal At McDonalds

On my way to work this morning, (Yes readers, I do work sometimes) I drove past the local McDonald's on Market Street and spied their billboard advertising "Cone" for 50 cents.

Now that is one Hell of a Happy Meal...

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Down On The Boulevard Tavern

Boulevard - Chicken Parmigiano

The Boulevard Tavern has been an icon in Youngstown, Ohio for a long time. Famous for their Friday fish dinner, the Boulevard also has some very good Italian selections. One of them is the Chicken Parmigiano with a side of spaghetti.

We were seated right away and we placed our orders. The waitress was very nice and we had our Cokes in just a few minutes. I ordered the chicken Parmigiano with spaghetti.

The portion was very generous, large chicken breast cooked perfectly, topped with cheese with a zesty sauce. It was very tasty, fresh, and the spaghetti completed a great meal.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends The Boulevard Tavern for dinner.

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Cheddars Restaurant - Boardman Ohio

Cheddars - Boardman Ohio (CLOSED)

Patty and I decided to try Cheddar's Casual Cafe, the new restaurant in Boardman, Ohio. (It's in the Southern Park Mall parking lot next to Chilli's) The parking area was full so we thought we would be in for a wait. We were wrong. The restaurant is like Doctor Who's Police Call Box, it is much bigger on the inside.

We were seated right away and our waiter Eric took our drink order right away. Just a few minutes and our drinks, (Mine was a Coke Zero) were on our table.

Since it was our first time there, I opted for several simple things. I went with the Southern fried chicken tenders as an appetizer and the bacon cheeseburger as the main meal.

Cheddars Chicken Strips

The appetizer was delivered quickly to our table, within minutes. The chicken was good, crisp, and enough. The fries were an added bonus.

Cheddars Bacon Cheeseburger

On entre's were also delivered in good time. The bacon cheeseburger was big, a half pound of beef, well done, with 4 full slices of bacon, melted cheese, and a very fresh bun. Fries again completed the meal. The burger was very good. Very tasty, juicy, especially with the added fries to the top of the burger.

The cost was low, 15 bucks without tip.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4.25 out of 5 shots and recommends Cheddar's for dinner.

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Caffe Capri - Filet Mignon

Caffe Capri, an Italian style restaurant is located in Boardman, Ohio. Patty and I have tried Caffe Capri several times before and found the restaurant and food very good. We were seated right away and our waitress came and took our drink orders.

We ordered appetizers as well. We went with the fried mozzarella cheese with spaghetti sauce. The breading was perfect, just enough crunch to keep the hot melted cheese manageable.

Bread was brought to the table. It was fresh, warm, and tasted fantastic.

The salad was standard fare but with the added grated cheese it was good.

I ordered the filet mignon, and it was very tender, zero fat, and a generous enough portion. The taste was good, it was juicy, and cooked just right. The filet came with a side of pasta. I chooose penne pasta. It was very well cooked, zesty sauce, and complimented the filet. The cost was around $30 dollars for the meal without tip which is adequate here in town.

Caffe Capri - Filet Mignon

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4.25 out of 5 shots and recommends Caffe Capri for dinner.

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St. Elizabeth Hospital Youngstown Ohio

Place: Hallway inside St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, Ohio

Take a few seconds to study the photo above. Go ahead, I'll wait while you do.
OK, what is wrong with this picture?

Dumbasses!

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Wedgewood Pizza - Boardman Ohio

Wedgewood Pizza - Boardman

Wedgewood Pizza has branched out and has another pizza place in Boardman, Ohio. It's been there for several years and I have eaten there several times and decided to check in and critique the famous pizza.

Wedgewood 16 Inch with Chicken Topping

Ordering was standard fare, call your order in, (16 inch pizza with a topping of chicken on half the pizza) and was told 20 minutes and was given a pickup number.

In 20 minutes I pulled in, and you can see by my picture of the store front that it was raining. My pizza was ready and the cashier said that the pizza would be $13.50 total.

Now, the menu states that a large pizza is $10.50 plain. Chicken as a topping was $3 dollars. I assumed that since I only asked for chicken on half the pie that the topping charge would be $1.50 but I was wrong. (Other pizza joints only charge half when you only want the topping on half. Not Boardman Wedgewood.) I paid the $13.50 and left.

The pizza tasted great. Thick crust, nice sauce, cheese, and the chicken was well cooked. All in all a perfect five rating, except for the over charge for the topping.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Boardman Wedgewood Pizza for dinner.

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Hungry Howies Thin Crust Pizza

Hungry Howie's Pizza Shop - Boardman, Ohio
When deciding on a pizza for dinner, several factors come into play.

One: First and foremost, the pizza must be good tasting.
Two: The pizza Ohio has to have a very quick take out service.
Three: The pizza box must be sturdy to survive the ride home.
Four: The pizza must be affordable.
Five: The pizza shop must be close by.

Hungry Howie's meet these requirements. The thin crust is good tasting, not fantastic or exceptional, but good. The drive through pick up is pretty spot on. You pull up, they take your money and hand over the pizza. The box, yellow in color, is sturdy to handle rough roads and perhaps another box stacked on top and still the cheese will not be sticking to the top of the box. Howie's is fairly cheap, and check on their weekly specials for some good deals. And the shop is only five minutes away from us. 

BTW, the chicken nuggets, or strips, or tenders, whatever they call them, are not bad.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Hungry Howie's for dinner.

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Davidsons Restaurant Bacon Cheeseburger

Davidson's Restaurant - Austintown, Ohio
From the looks of the restaurant, it appears small on the outside but once you walk inside, there are plenty of rooms with many a tables. Don't be concerned if the parking lot is full, there will be a table for you inside.

This evening I was intrigued by one of the appetizers, the "Mini Corndogs." Yes, corndogs! There were 10 of them, dipped in batter and browned to a nice crunch. I was surprised at how good they were.

My main course was the half pound bacon cheeseburger with fair fries. The burger was well done as specified, the bun fresh, the cheese melted and thank goodness the bacon was cooked. (I hate when I order a bacon cheeseburger and there is soggy uncooked bacon on top) The burger was delicious.

The fries to my surprise, were fantastic. I am in search of the elusive "Idora Park" french fry taste and this night was the closest I came. On a Idora Park scale of 1 to 10, these fries were a 9. The texture, the taste, the look, feel, the presentation, all Idora Park like. Only thing missing was the white paper cone holder that Idora fries came in.

Completing the meal was a slice of cheesecake topped with strawberries. It was very good and ended the meal on a high note.

The reason for 4 stars and not 5, the service is a tad lacking. No offense to the wait staff, they are working hard, but they are spread to thin. Our waitress was covering an entire room, which was to much for one to handle. Management needs to add more help.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Davidson's for dinner.

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Bacon Hot Fudge Sundae From Burger King

Hell Yeah Bacon

Yes, I know it was out there, hanging out with the deep fried twinkies and deep fried cheeseburger and it was just a matter of time before it landed on the Blue Plate Special.

Let's break this down, ice cream, hot fudge, and bacon. Whip em all together and you have the Bacon Sundae. I will state, I was a skeptic, however, after the first bite, it's true, bacon makes everything taste better.

If you like bacon, and ice cream, make the drive to Burger King and score a bacon sundae today.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Burger King Bacon Sundae for dessert.

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Marcs BBQ Grilled Chicken Take Out

Marc's Grocery Store in Boardman, Ohio is my usual place to stock up on Coke Zero. Marc's runs some deep discount deals on pop every so often and that's when i stock up.

The other day after loading my cart with Coke Zero, I spied in the cold section some packaged grilled chicken breasts with BBQ sauce. The cost was $3.09 for the package. Feeling saucy, I decided to try a pack.

After loading the Coke zero in the basement I fired up the microwave and warmed that chicken BBQ up. I wasn't expecting much, (It was cheap, in a plastic container, and it was from Marc's) but I was hungry. The portion was generous with the cost at just over three bucks. I cut a small piece off and tasted it.

WOW! I was impressed. The chicken breast was juicy, tender, with no fat. The BBQ sauce was tangy and flavorful and complimented the chicken perfectly. It tasted really good. Not just plastic wrap take out from a grocery store good, but from a respected BBQ restaurant specializing in BBQ chicken good. Shocking! I rate this BBQ right up there with the Outback, Calhouns, and Texas Roadhouse. Yes, it was that good. And it was cheap.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends Marc's Grocery Store BBQ Grilled Chicken take out for dinner.

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Smoky Bones Restaurant - BBQ Combo

Smoky Bones is located on South Avenue, a very busy highway in Boardman, Ohio. Today, we decided to stop driving by and instead pulled into the parking lot.

We were seated quickly as it was not very busy and our waitress came over to take our drink order. We ordered diet Cokes. She returned with our drinks and took our dinner order.

I ordered the pretzels as an appetizer as they looked intriguing. Fifteen minutes later, the pretzels arrived at our table. I asked the waitress for plates, napkins, and utensils to eat the pretzels. After asking three times, I never received them.

As I stated earlier, it wasn’t crowded leaving no excuse for lousy service which we were receiving. It took our waitress 30 minutes after she delivered our pretzel appetizer to deliver our dinner.

Triple Combo Platter

Finally, our dinner was served. I ordered the triple combo and selected BBQ pulled pork, BBQ chicken strips, and BBQ grilled chicken. A baked potato and garlic bread completed the dinner.

Inspecting the plate, I noticed the pulled pork was not the BBQ variety. Nor was the chicken strips and the grilled chicken. Luckily our waitress returned with refills on our diet Cokes. I informed her I ordered BBQ and she said for me to use the tubes of BBQ sauce kept on the table. I then noticed she had given us iced tea instead of diet Cokes.

I once again sternly asked for napkins and at least a fork to eat my dinner. I also pointed out that we ordered diet Cokes and not iced tea. She said she would be right back with them. Instead of waiting, I got up and found an empty table and took the napkins and utensils and returned to our table. Our waitress never did bring us any.

I also noticed in our thirty minute wait patrons that came in after us and serviced by another waitress were served their dinners before us. There were four other tables served before us.

Side Note: As we were eating, the table behind us had a problem with their bill and it took the waitress (Our waitress) several trips to the cashier to remedy the problem.

Still want to read the critique?

OK, the baked potato was cold, seriously, it was cold. Not hot, not warm, but cold. It was not baked all through and the center was hard. Score for the potato, zero.

The pulled pork was maybe warm, tasted OK but was bland as Hell. I was afraid to use any of the sauces our waitress directed to use on the table. Some of the tubes were oozing several foul-smelling odors and the sauce was dried and chunky on the tubes. Score, zero.

The fries were also cold. See the trend here? I really think our waitress forgot about our order. I hate cold fries. Score, zero.

The chicken was adequate at best, and could have been better if hot, at least warm.

Our waitress should be fired.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 0 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommends Smoky Bones for dinner.

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KFC Lies To Customers

Driving down South avenue the other day I spied a KFC restaurant (Kentucky Fried chicken) and a minute later I found myself in the drive through. Since I was there I decided to order something. It would have been a little awkward if when the drive through window employee asked, "May I help you," and I said, "No, just browsing right now!" Instead, I ordered a #10 which was two chicken filets, a biscuit, wedge fries, and a Pepsi. All for $6 dollars. I was told to pull around to the window.

After I paid my $6 dollars, I was told that the filets were not cooked and it would be 5-6 minutes. She told me to pull over and park on the right and they would bring it out. I noticed the time and it was 5:24pm. I pulled over. It started to rain. Perhaps a bad omen.

Six minutes passed and still no winner winner chicken dinner. Ten minutes passed and KFC became officially liars. Three minutes later the KFC employee was spotted, running my take out bag to me in the pouring rain.

For a brief moment I thought of being mean, with it raining hard and the girl outside my Jeep window holding my take out, perhaps I would pretend not to notice her. Make her wait on me. Instead, I unzipped the window and took my order and drove off.

The moral of this post is:
KFC lies to its customers. When they tell you it will only be a 5-6 minute wait, expect that time to be at least double.

You see, I am at a loss for rating this take out dinner. The chicken was good, the fries and roll hot and tasty, but the service was down right despicable.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 1 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommend KFC Drive through for lunch or dinner.

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Subway - Grilled Chicken Sandwich

I saw a Subway commercial the other day and it showed a very good-looking sandwich. It was called the Grilled Chicken foot long. It was only five dollars so I decided to have one for dinner.

The employee at the restaurant was pleasant and nice and began to make my sandwich. I asked for Italian bread and toasted please. I saw her cut the bread and proceed to place two thin white slabs of what I believed to be chicken on the bun. She then scooped out a ladle full of meatball sauce and spread it over the chicken. Into the microwave to toast it went.

* Cheese was $1 extra if wanted.
* Bacon was $1 extra if wanted.
* Any other meat add-on was $1 extra if wanted.

The sandwich was wrapped up and away I went. When I got it home, I unwrapped it, placed it on the counter and snapped this picture. It looked nothing like the television commercial sandwich. False advertising for sure.

But how did it taste?

Well, the Italian bread was OK. The meatball sauce was OK. The grilled chicken slabs were adequate. Of course the chicken was processed, not real chicken, but parts of the chicken. And that's it. Nothing else. Put it all together and you got a sandwich with no real taste, no real zing. However, the price of $5 dollars saved the sandwich from being a total loss.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 2 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommends Subway Grilled chicken sandwich for lunch or dinner. With so many other choices, this sandwich is a DOA.

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Vending Machine Cheese Curls

Vending Machine Action

Take a good look people. What you see is one dollar's worth of a vending machine snack, Herr's Cheese Curls. That's 15 churls to a bag. One ounce for $1 dollar. Is this a good deal? Depends on how hungry you are and the availability of other viable choices. For me, for that day, the vending machine was one of two options. Insert a $1 dollar bill into the machine or go hungry.

As cheese curls go, well, they were puffy and crunchy. They had fake cheese glued on them. And they are orange.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 1.25 out of 5 shots and does not recommend Vending Machine Cheese Curls for a snack. My advice, pack a lunch.

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Youngstown - A&W Restaurant Last Meal

A&W Restaurant

A&W Family Restaurant located on Route 224 and West Boulevard is closing tomorrow. The details are sketchy but apparently the owners wanted to retire and attempted to sell the business but there were no takers. So, on December 31st, 2011, A&W will serve it's last mug of root beer and close it's doors for good. I believe Advanced Auto Parts purchased the property and will begin building shortly after the new year.

A&W was one of those old fashioned fast food restaurants. So old fashioned that they had car ports and waitresses would come out to your car and take your order and bring it out on a tray and attach it to your car window. Just like at Arnold's from the Happy Days television sitcom. The car ports are still there but alas, that type of service was discontinued a long time ago.

However, I remember back in my teens I would take my 68 Camaro to A&W and order up some cheeseburgers and root beer floats. The food was good as fast food goes, and the root beer was unique, a very good blend. Those were the days. But those days are gone my friends.

Patty and I went inside to order, it was not busy, perhaps 10 people sitting in the booths and two people ahead of us in line. We placed our order, I went with the double cheeseburger special. (A double cheeseburger and Root Beer for $3.49) I added a large order of french fries ($1.99) to complete my last meal at A&W.

Cheeseburger And Fries

Our meal took about five minutes to be ready and we took the tray of food to our table. As I unwrapped the cheeseburger, it didn't look at all like the A&W burgers from old. The bun was a generic bun, you can see the powder on the top of the bun. It was not buttered, not toasted, not warmed, just a plain old generic small bun. The burgers were also small, not at all as I remembered. And the taste, well, it was nasty. I liken the taste to horse meat. Patty told me to keep my voice down as I was ranting about the terrible taste. I replied, "What are they going to do, close the place down!" I choked down half the burger and left the rest in the wrapper.

I had hope for the fries. Alas, they were simple standard generic fries. No real taste to them and salty as all hell. And for $1.99 I was expecting perhaps a little more fries.

A&W Root Beer

Perhaps the root beer would be better than the meal. After all, the root beer is what made the restaurant favorite. I remember the tall thick frosty mugs they used to serve for in dining orders. That root beer just tasted fantastic. Not today's however. It was in a paper cup, and was flat and stale. No fizzle, no taste. I would think it was perhaps the worst soft drink I had the displeasure of tasting.

That was strike three for me. Patty however, said the chili dog was excellent so we have that.

Perhaps the restaurant was merely unloading what was buried back in their freezer long ago. (They never did find Jimmy Hoffa's body you know) Perhaps they didn't want to change the CO2 tanks in the soft drink machine. Who knows. Who really cares anymore. The place will be open only another 24 hours or so.

With heavy heart, because I really wanted A&W to go out of business on a high note, The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 1 out of 5 shots for the final meal at A&W Family Restaurant in Boardman, Ohio.

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